Gift of the Protector: Radiant Heart
by Edge Feyera
Summary: The once bold line separating humans and Pokemon has grown dangerously ambiguous in recent times. With an entire world on the brink of a second Great War, one unlucky researcher confronts untold horrors of the past, armed only with the power of the Pokemon in his heart. Will he manage to stop a seemingly inevitable singularity before it is too late? Is it already too late for her?
1. A Nightmare Reflected Through a Mirror

**A Nightmare Reflected Through a Mirror**

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**A/N:**First of all, please accept my sincere apologies; I've being absent for an unexpectedly long period of time due to my graduate school obligations. Send me a private message if you want to chat and catch up!

Please feel free to visit my profile if you would like to know the pronunciation of some of the fictional words and names created in this original storyline.

Arc 1: Fractured Unity Arc 2: Pristine Embrace Arc 3: Radiant Heart

Finally, I beseech you to read this entire chapter. (If you fancy reading some more, I have arcs 1&2 uploaded on a few mediums: FFN, Deviant Art, and Archive of Our Own). With all that being said – enjoy!

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Darkness. The twilight hour grew evermore sinister with each passing stroke of a silver pendulum swaying to-and-fro across a marble-faced clock in the silent city's eastern square. She was alone. Shivering specks of moonlight from above tickled her pale skin. White as a patch of fluffy snow, the shifting moonlight bore a crescent moon's waning face while black rainclouds passed over Slateport's misty harbor.

Like abstract designs etched into a frothy canvas, gloomy clouds concealed most of the night sky. Only the brightest of stars could shimmer through the felted blanket of amorphous sky; the hazy objects fading and reforming linking heaven and sea.

She was afraid. Terribly so. A sudden chill ran up her spine. Her pace hastened as she walked along the uneven cement of the park on her way home. Rising and falling, her lungs took in quick breaths of the icy moonlit air. Substantial yet effeminate exhalations were the only noises she could hear.

*SNAP!* She quickly turned to face the sound of a branch rustling in one of the nearby trees. Though it was the dead of night, she scanned the tree lines with the eyes of a Staraptor.

Not a shadow, not another noise. _"Wild Pokemon,"_ she thought, breaking into a brisk jog in fright. The persistent sounds of her heels clapping against the cement soon stopped as she darted into the tall grass adjacent to the path. _"I shouldn't have taken this shortcut back,"_ she thought mired in frustration. _"I only just moved here."_

She approached a large stone statute. Hesitating, her pace slowed. Amid all of the desire she had to continue on her journey home, she could not help but slow as she approached the large granite figure.

Sparkling with midnight dew in the hoary light of the moon, the enigmatic figure drew her attention. Like a magnet of shelter, she stepped against the chiseled stone, rubbing her trembling hands against its coarse façade.

Oddly shaped and in the filtering light from the only source above, she couldn't tell what it was or what it represented, only that it offered a degree of comfort to someone who had lost her way.

Wet grass bit at her exposed calves as the wind picked up. Perturbed, she pressed her back against the statue and looked back. Her breathing quickened. The entire park was empty, and the solar-powered lights lining the pathway had long since expended their daily collection.

"Okay," she whispered aloud to herself, "you can do this. You're not lost."

But as she ran her dainty nails nervously against the figure she leaned against, the creeping sensation returned. She felt as if she as being watched. Cruelly enough, she could not discern nor ascertain the source of the foreign feeling.

Like a tightly wound music box, her heart fluttered in the midnight air, each note of silent searching trying desperately to stabilize the ill atmosphere.

Panting, she fathomed what she could do. She had no Pokemon on her. The park was not normally patrolled by guards at night. A co-worker had told her that the path through Slateport Park would get her home in half the time. _"Well didn't that work out great,"_ she thought sarcastically. _ "Should have taken a bus back from work."_

But not even the bus-line ran past eleven. Working past midnight on a busy day, she was stuck taking the streets no matter what. She shook her head, trying to reorient where she was. _"I came in through the western gate; Michael told me the path to Savon's Ferry curved north and then east…"_

*Creeeeak! Squeak!* "AHH!" She ducked instinctually, hearing the flapping of Zubat wings overhead. Falling into a squat, she tucked her head between her knees, covering her neck with both her arms, lest they bite her. Luckily, the sound soon passed, as did the Supersonic hums emitted from the blind creatures' mouths.

*Pant! Pant! Gasp!* _"I just want to go home…!" _Troublesomely, she rose to her feet again, darting straight ahead into the inky blackness. She dared not look behind her. Running in a straight line through bushes and trees of all varieties, she eventually found her way to a metal gate. "Phew…! Thank heavens!" she said, grasping the icy bars with her delicate hands.

But the gate would not budge. Worse still, she could see the promise of civilization up ahead in the form of tall grey buildings, which stood fast, denying the ebony night the horizon.

She shook the bars, her flimsy gold armlet jingling loudly in the otherwise quiet park. Seeing no way to scale herself over the pronged fence, she gradually turned around, only to find the way back had grown pitch black as the sky continued to darken with the promise of rainfall.

"Dammit!" she swore, shaking the bars again in futile anguish. "…Let me out!" she said loudly, hoping a friendly ear would hear her pleading. "Please, somebody! I'm trapped in the park!"

However, there was no such listener on that dark night.

Gradually, she walked parallel to the grated fence, keeping an eye on the park where she had come from. She longed to see that mysterious statue to point her in the right direction, but the inky blackness from the canopy of trees had long since consumed the beacon of hopeful respite.

"SNAP!" The sound of a twig snapping from behind caused her to jump in terror. She dared not look back, praying the sudden noise was only her own clumsy misstep. As she continued to run, her curly hair bounced over her narrow shoulders with increasing recoil as the bun she wore loosened. Soon she felt the ribbon slip off, as if it were tugged right away from her head. With a jolt, she felt the frayed tips of her once soft hair tingle against her sensitive back. The bare areas of her back felt countless shivers as her hair waved back and forth between her top's tapered arm straps. Even in the dark night, the pasty seashell color of her top could be seen dashing through the cast iron bars. The snug fitting garment dangled beneath her waistline, where a thin leathery belt kept her knee-length skirt in place. With each less-than-graceful stride, her light lavender skirt kicked up higher into the blank night air.

Eventually, she reached a large gate with a padlock. She grappled clumsily in the dark, trying to locate the locking mechanism and escape to the dimly lit street ahead of her. Yet the lock would not give, only rustling and tinkering with each of her panicked stirrings.

"Oh no! It's locked…!" she whispered, afraid to admit that she might have to follow the path she had found back through the eerie park.

"Perhaps I can help you with that," said a man.

"AHHH!" Shrieking she spun around, grasping her slickened hands tightly on the metal bars behind her. "W–who are you…?!" she asked the darkness.

Slowly a shadowy figure emerged, his posture lean and trimmed. Masculine and steady, he gradually walked along the path towards her.

"Stay back…!" she ordered, blindly fumbling with her sweating hands on the gate's lock.

"Don't worry," said the man's voice. "I only want to help you."

She breathed out in hushed sigh of relief, "W–who are you?"

"Me?" The faint tapping from his jet-black boots signaled his continued approach. "I'm here to help you. Think of me as…your guardian angel." He suddenly paused, breathing out quickly, "Yes. That'll do nicely."

"Guardian…angel…?" she repeated, confused, and unsure of what the mysterious voice meant by that. "Umm…great…whatever." Warily, she inched away from the lock as his shadowed visage drew near. Stumbling, she fell off the path, rear first. "Ahhh!"

Breaking her fall, an invisible arm grabbed her, stalling her untimely plummet. His hand, gloved in a suede fabric, guided her wrist back up until she stood almost beside him. Though he was taller, his twisted ebony hair danced in front of his face, only revealing a faint pair of tight lips not far removed from a narrow nose. "Careful now…" he said. "Don't want to hurt yourself."

"T–thank you," she said to the stranger. _"Should I tell him I'm lost?"_

"It's okay. You took the wrong way home, didn't you?" he said craftily. "*Tsk, tsk*. Like a little Lostelle."

"How did you…?" She pulled away from his grasp.

Surprisingly, he let her go immediately. "I told you already who I am. I'm your protector. I'm here to protect you."

"Protect me?" she asked cautiously. "Protect me from what exactly?"

"There are plenty of things that could go wrong for a lost lady late at night."

"So," she hesitated, "you knew I was lost here?"

"Of course I did," he said. "You shouldn't be wandering out here all by yourself."

Feeling almost guilty, she replied, "I…I know. I'm sorry, I thought this way would take me home faster. A –"

"– A co–worker told you that, didn't he?" he said with a shake of his head, made obvious by the swaying of his bangs obscuring both his eyes.

"How did you…?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked her. Pushing her gently aside with an extended arm, he approached the lock. With a sharp "click!" the padlock snapped open. Then the unoiled gate squeaked loudly as it was forced opened by the man's shoulder.

"Okay…" she looked beyond his long sleeve and at the street ahead of her. "Thank you."

However, he said mysteriously, "Don't thank me yet."

"_What…?"_ she thought. But the prospect of being freed from the spooky park had her head coiled in a knot of emotion. "I appreciate it."

"You do…?" he asked, his thin frame gradually retreating back into the invisible embrace of the shadows.

"Wait!" she exclaimed. "Don't leave me! I still don't know how to get home from here!"

She saw his teeth reflected briefly in the hazy moonlight. "You don't?" he asked.

"No…" she admitted. "I have to get to Devon's Ferry."

"Hah. You're in for a rough time if that's the place you're looking for! You're all the way on the other side of town!" She wasn't sure how, but she could tell he was smiling beneath the wooly scarf entangling his narrow neck. "Of course… I know where Devon's Ferry is," he said rather slowly. "How would you like me to show you the way home?"

Shrugging, she thought, _"What do I have to lose?" _"Um… If it's not too much trouble. You see, I just moved here. I haven't found my way around the city yet."

"Oh," he said with a prolonged sigh. "I could tell you were not from around here." Again, the haunting air seemed to dance slowly around her as he stepped out of the park through the open gate. "Follow me. We're a lot closer than you'd think."

"Okay," she said trialing closely behind him. "Don't try anything suspicious!"

"Oh no; don't you worry," he replied with a twisted grin. Sinisterly, his slender fingers clutched tightly onto something well hidden in his overcoat's breast pocket. "Don't you worry at all…"

Once the shady individual had guided her down a series of empty blocks, she began to recognize some of the structures around her. Silently, she heaved a sigh of relief. _"Thank heavens…"_ she thought as they approached the light rose brick of her familiar apartment building. "Thank you for leading me home safely," she said. Yet the gratitude she gave him did not appear to resonate upon his sallow expression.

His pace slowed as he reached the steep stairs leading up to her apartment complex. Cloaked behind a mask of thick, ebony hair, he showed very few features. He only nodded while she hastily searched her small purse for her keys in the dim overhead street light.

"_Ah ha!"_ Grasping the boney key, she slipped it into the door's knob and turned. With a "click!" it opened revealing the warm lobby's interior. Feeling relieved, she turned around to thank the stranger again. "Thanks for–" But no one was there. "Huh?" She stood alone under the eaves of her building, the swaying streetlight overhead squeaking in the hallow wind. "–everything…?" _"Where'd he go…?"_ she wondered. _"I could have sworn he was right behind me…"_

*CRACK! SHHHCK-BOUWGH!* The deafening sound of thunder from above caused her to all but forget her mysterious escort. Quickly sprinting, she rushed inside and under the cover of the structure just as the rain began to pour down the dark eaves and onto the steep stairs.

She knew was well past the hours of the bellman whose name she could not remember. Walking down the hallway of the lobby, her blue eyes darted about at the various pictures faintly illuminated by the receded incandescent bulbs in the ceiling. _"What a strange night…"_

Not wanting to take the lift at this hour, as she still felt the uncomfortable sweat from before, she hastily climbed up the spiral stairwell to her room on the third floor.

Fumbling again with the bronze keys, she undid the lock with a quick turn and click. Opening the wooden door gave forth a scent of her perfume, a mixture of young Roselia petals and sweet Bellossom honey-dew. _"Home at last…!"_ she thought as her preferred scent wafted through the air.

Eagerly, she dashed to the mirror, taking her high-strapped footwear off along the way. Stumbling slightly, the thunderous storm outside persisted with belts of lightning that arched across the sky, illuminating her flushed room with white light.

Getting to the bathroom, she peered into the full sized mirror, sighing in relief. Some of her eye makeup had run off onto her pallid face, giving her the appearance of having two small bowls of charcoal beneath her azure eyes. Batting her long lashed eyes, she played with her cheeks, removing their rosy flush and revealing more of the pale skin underneath. "Phew…"

*CLAP!* Hearing a loud noise, she turned only to be confused by the sound of her door slamming shut. _"What…?"_ The echoing thunder eased her worries. "That was probably just the thunderstorm," she whispered to herself. "I need to get around to calling maintenance. They should really check my door's hinges…"

Turning back to face the mirror, a strange sight greeted her. She was still there, her slender build an undeniable sight. But she was more than merely a sight to herself, for over her left shoulder stood a shadowy figure. The same figure from before. A murky visage of a man! "Eep!" she yelped as the torrents of rain splashed outside the fogged window. Such raw terror overtook her, she could barely manage to cry out. "HELP!"

*SHHHCK-_**BOUWGH!***_ Another loud crackle of thunder separated the numbing sensation she soon felt and the slowed fall to the tiled floor. Everything had decelerated to a sluggish pace around her. As her body collapsed onto the hard floor, she barely felt any of the impact. Sharp tingling came from her neck. From the ground, she attempted to raise her hand up to her neck, only to feel the harsh grasp of the stranger's gloved hand once more upon her wrist!

"_AHH! Get off me!"_ she tried to scream, but her lips had frozen shut. Locked in a paralyzed vulnerability, she could only watch as the figure from the park approached her.

"Well, well. Isn't it dangerous to be traveling on your own, little Lostelle?" said a familiar voice.

"*Huff! Huff!*" she twisted and screamed as loud as she could, but no air would come out, no sound could be made.

"You're trying too hard," whispered the man. "Don't resist!"

"…!" Helplessly, she peered up into his mysterious eyes. Like two twinkling amber olives they drew in her gaze as he knelt down next to her collapsed frame.

"It's okay…" he said, twirling her delicate hair around one of his slender fingers. "I promise it'll be over soon." Oddly, she could not feel the familiar strain of concentrated pain as he tugged on her hair in a tight knot round his wrist. "There's no pain, right?" he asked her.

She could only gasp in horror as he straddled her in an unprecedented act of advance. "Please…! No!" Nevertheless, all of her earnest pleas felt upon silent ears. "Don't! NOOOOOO!"she hollered from beneath the crushing pressure boring into her chest.

The man, reached into his inner vest pocket, removing a thin set of square spectacles. Calmly adjusting the glasses on his narrow nose bridge so that they shielded his piercing eyes, he said faintly, "Don't worry. To worry is to be weak." Resting his hand on her exposed shoulder blade, he smiled. "It'll be over. It'll all be over soon…" he said methodically. "Soon, you'll be better…soon…"

"…!...!" Without a voice, she squirmed and twisted, desperate to break free from the mysterious paralysis. _"Let me go!"_ she desperately tried to call for , her earnest struggle became soon futile, as her limbs seemingly traveled far away from the control of her mind. _"AHH! NOO!" _The distant outcry to those fading limbs soon became lost amid a new, comforting sensation. _"Haaaahh…!" _A sensation of warmth, culminating in her heart. A flutter of excitement jolted her chest. Tingling, beckoning, it urged her to coo gently as the wonderful sensation continued to overtake. _"Mmm…! …N–no!" _Frozen her eyes were, and she could not avert her fixated gaze. Trapped, she was imprisoned in an utter hell. Countless beams of spectacular neon color and light danced around her living room. And yet as these brilliant lines of light she had never seen before continued to fill her room and her body with inexplicable warmth, she could not take her fearful eyes off of the man, wearing a broad grin, stroked the ridge of her neck in a tender motion. The delicate touch of his fingertips tickled at first, but as they rose along her neckline, the sensation soon became overwhelming.

"_Your body!"_ boomed a terrifying voice, resounding from deep within her center. With wicked shrills that seemed to capture the trembling pain of countless generations seemed able to shatter all remaining control she held over herself. _ "Your soul…your spirit…!" "—ARE MINE!"_

All was suddenly quiet. Someone was speaking to her. She couldn't understand his voice. She watched his lips closely. Had she seen that face before? She could not remember. She watched his mouth open and close, ejecting strange sounds into the air. Was this some sort of language he was using to communicate with her? She peered downwards, utterly confused by the feeling of being embodied once more. Something was incredibly odd about this vessel. It lacked the capability for power that she once held before her body was ravaged by the wicked deeds of the Cult of Ascension.

Instantly upon resorting to telepathy, she was thrust into the middle of the mysterious man's sentence. "… so long as someone remembers a name. …What is your name?"

"Celesta…" she whispered softly. She gasped at how the cool air felt warm against her chest, how the slightest inhalation filled her with unparalleled cordiality. Bringing her quivering hands to her lips, she marveled at the tenderness of her fingertips against her glowing red lips. Feeling their plump redness racketed a series of cascading vibrations, all of which shook her core with an urgent rush.

"Celesta…?" asked the man's voice. She could not recognize his voice; clearly she had never met the mysterious stranger before, as all forms of prior recollection had been suppressed by the searing scar on her chest. The handle appeared to be made of the same organic material that had cut through her cleavage. A collection of crimson shards held together by a silvery veins of liquid metal had penetrated deep within her. Its radiant glow seemed to pulse with the exact consistency of her internal heartbeat. She exhaled as ecstatic chills ran along her spine. The tingling sensation around her lips and other sensitive organs had subsided from the initial climax, but their mysterious echoes seemed to endlessly resound through this new body. Her eyes batted convulsively as she began to cough, and her lungs felt the rush of precious oxygen she had been long deprived of. Looking to her side, for a brief moment thought she remembered the man beside her, but it was too fragmented of a memory. _"Where… where do I know him from…?"_ she wondered. _"Who is he…? He can't be the goddess we meet after death!"_

"…There, there…" he said to her as heavy lids slid over her vision, fading her sight into a balmy warmth, "there, there, Celesta. You're alive, just as promised. Safely within a suitable vessel."

"_A…vessel? …This?" _ Hearing that made her heart jump with excitement. _"I'm here…? Where did the light go…?"_ she wondered in twisted curiosity. _"You…!" _She could not remember his name, or anything at all about his mysterious appearance – as he seemingly arrived out of the blinding white light she saw after experiencing death.

"Hmm?"

She could barely see him. But she could feel his retreating touch. _"You can really hear me…? I'm really real…? I'm awake? I'm alive?"_

"Of course you are," replied the man's somber voice. By now, she could barely distinguish the lines of his angular face through the growing haze of misty colors. "You've been excellently preserved."

"_Pre–served…?"_ she pondered, the emptiness of the skin she inhabited feeling strange and delightful. _"What…what does 'preserved' mean?"_

"Your consciousness was kept alive in the Dagger of Life. And beautifully so," marveled the man's voice. By now, his speech was only a faint static of syllables, dragged so distantly away from her by the anesthetic, she could no longer distinguish where the end of her horizon of perception was. "Angelus… The research was correct. But… I never dreamed this would be possible." he whispered.

Neither could she. From the rising pressure of her chest, to the delicately sensitive skin she felt so intimately connected to, everything had grown substantially closer to her. Save for vision, all of her senses felt heightened, as if on the edge of some miraculous new frontier of experience itself. _"What is this?"_

"Celesta…" said the invisible stranger. "This is your new life. This experience, this everything, is thanks to me. Your life is because of me, Celesta. I freed your damned soul from the Dagger of Life; _**in saecula saeculorum**_. The gates to your eternal prison are no more! This life is yours now."

"_M–my life…?!"_ she exclaimed, as if hearing the phrase for the first time. Indeed, the range of the man's voice sounded rather shallow, and echoed far above where she had drowned deep into a vast pool of sinking consciousness. _"But I am no longer one singular soul. No…not any longer."_

"Do not dwell on the imprisonment of the unholy dagger… Despite the challenges of your _**disiecta membra**_,I gave this life back to you… brought you back from the Cult of Ascension's infernal prison within the Dagger of Life. I severed your soul from the dagger's eternal grip, prevented it from gnawing on your soul along with the souls of countless other creatures like yourself…Gardevoir. But now, you must do something for me in return. _**Quid pro quo**_, my dear Celesta – a favor for a favor."

"_What…what is it?" _The urge to guard and protect took her by surprised, and she squinted in an attempt to see who it was that requested her aid. However, the air was still thick with a strange burgundy miasma of swirling clouds and traveling lakes of tears. She reached her hands up to try and find his voice, desperately looking for the source of that promised purpose. That promise. That duty to protect. That task to save what mattered in this finite existence. That mission to guard that which was most treasured to her heart. That goal to unify two hearts into one. _"What must I do for you…?"_ she thought with urgency.

Though she could not see it, she felt his smile. The way his narrow cheeks retreated in pleasure. "All that I want, Celesta, is to be together with you. …Forever."

"…_!"_ The surge of ecstatic pleasure was nearly unbearable. The sheer thought of sharing her life with that of another made it impossible to resist the sweeping fantasizing. _"You… you want that?"_

She felt something tickle her ear. The dangling cartilage felt less warm than she was used to. But the sound was as crisp as ever. And as he spoke she retreated into her own shocked trance. "You…that's all I want Celesta…! That's all I need…!"

The broiling warmth in her chest had tightly surrounded her entire body, everywhere she felt the delicate pins of wonderful sensation. From the silky fine tips of her hair, to the tiniest of her toes, everything about her body roared with excitement.

"*…Gasp…! …Gasp…!*" on the verge of losing control, her knuckles tensed into tight fists, which soon exploded into open hands which she threw high into the air in an exotic yearning. _"Take me!" _*Gasp!* _"Please, take me with you!"_

Settling his cool hand on her fevered forehead, he rubbed the palm of his hand against her face, now flushed with uncontrollable and restless scarlet. "I can't…"

His refrain drove her into a flux of delirium. _"…Why?!"_

"I want you to take me back… I need you to take me."

At this her heart leapt. _"A way to be together…!"_

"Yes." She sensed his nod. "A way for us to be together…permanently."

"_But…how….?"_ she initially wondered, but the growing sense of an indomitable spirit soon overtook her. It no longer mattered how slim the odds were, just that there was a chance…indeed, a second chance…was enough for her. _"Can this be happening…?"_ She knew better than to question it, for the experience itself was immaculate.

"I want you to remember one thing, and one thing only. If you want to be whole again, if you want to experience your life with all of its newfound pleasures, then you must bind your heart to mine! You must join your heart with my own! You must become my avatar, together; we must take back this wretched world!" She squeaked involuntarily at the sound of the mysterious man's passion. Her excited eyes, longing for a taste of his zeal, glowed a bright crimson with a blend of awe and curiosity. Little by little, her vision began to glisten with shapes and colors, forming tiny kaleidoscopic patterns at first, and then morphing into discernible shapes.

* * *

"AHHH!" screamed a frail young man, as he tumbled down from where he had been soundly asleep. Not much past his twenty-first birthday, the Pokemon trainer with rich, coppery–auburn hair grumbled as he gingerly rubbed his sore elbow. A loud "thump!" from hitting the floor had quickly startled him awake and out of the bizarre dream. Quickly, he gazed around, and the dark mist seemed to vanish as his piercing eyes scanned the cabin. Luckily he'd broken his fall from the mattress. "*Ooh* ouch, dammit!" Grunting, he tried to sit up. Although half-delirious and still slightly rattled from his unexpected fall, a single expression was all it took to bring an irresistible grin to his sallow face.

"…!"

Straightening his posture by grabbing one of the bedposts, he forced a smile back.

"_Where are you going?"_

The telepathic message had barely left her puckered lips before he was awash in a scarlet flush. "Sanaria…!" he exclaimed.

"_Are you okay, Feyera?"_ she asked. Peering down, she tried to help him off the moving floor with both her hands. _"You look like you've just seen a ghost."_

Steadying himself, the young Pokemon trainer firmly grasped her quivering hands. "It's okay… Was only a dream…I think."

A worrisome squint of her deep cherry wood eyes seemed to echo the Gardevoir's growing concern. _"You've been having a lot of those recently. Haven't you?"_

"Yes," he replied with a shrug. "I…I dunno why. There's been a number of recurring dreams."

"_Dreams?"_ asked the Gardevoir.

"Yes," he said nodding to her anxious expression, "I can see events happening, but they don't make any sense."

"_You're getting your memories back!"_ she squealed excitedly. _"Isn't that wonderful, thas Feyera?"_

"No!" he said firmly, still holding tightly onto both her hands. "These dreams… these nightmares… they can't be real… No! They can't be real memories! That would mean…"

"…_?"_ She looked quizzically at him.

"It's been disturbing me a great deal, Sana. I've only recently come to terms with who I am, and then suddenly these inexplicable dreams flood my mind at night?"

Hugging him closely with embracing arms, her glowing crimson heart danced above his own with each one of her quivering breaths. _"Y–you told me that you would be happier this way…"_ Gasping, she clutched the glowing crescent. _"I thought you would be–"_

"No, Sana." Shaking his head, he retorted with a seemingly benign growl, "I told you that this was my mission. I never said it would be easy. …You didn't have to remain by my side after we escaped Evercrest."

"_But you… but Seph…"_

"Sana," he addressed her with a surprisingly serious mien. "I told you already: I may have gotten my memories back, but at what price…?"

"_Thas Feyera!" _she exclaimed with a rapid shake of her head. _"It's not your fault! You're just as much innocent as you're guilty!"_

"…" Seeing her mint-green hair flop around with urgent concern, he tried to dissociate. Tried to look away. Tried to escape from her radiant eyes – penetrating his very soul. "Was it worth it…?" he asked rhetorically. "The sacrifice he made for my sake…twice. It just doesn't make any sense. Why would Seph do that?"

"_Don't be silly!"_ she chastised. Her pale cheeks flushed rose at the mere mention of her mate's name; it had been a long time since he had said his name without a tinge of bitterness from being seemingly cursed by the Gardevoir. _"This is what he would have wanted!"_

"Who?" Feyera asked jadedly. "Who are you talking about Sana? Your mate? …Or my potential father?"

"_Thas Feyera," _unsteadily she continued, _"there wasn't a choice, was there?"_

"Of course there wasn't a goddamn choice!" he said, fighting back the urge to expose his feelings. "Fredrick died so that we could escape! If not for him, we would both be dead! I thought he was evil, and mind-controlling me with his wrist collar. I lost faith in him. But I was wrong. Oh, so very wrong… *sigh* Sana, in the end all Fredrick wanted to do was save me from what happened to his daughter…Dee Aldaine was someone I actually had a chance with!"

"_*Pfft* as if you even had a chance with that Lorelei-girl!"_ she snipped.

"It's not even that, Sana. Don't you see? I had a future. However vague, at least it was something! And now all I have left are shambled memories of the past!" On the verge of letting frustration consume him, Feyera quickly realized that she already knew what he felt. Gardevoir could project their every emotion upon another, and the Psychic powers went both ways. She knew exactly how he felt at this moment.

"…" With a protracted sigh, she shifted herself off the mattress and closer to her seated companion. Swinging her thin legs off the bed, she deftly adjusted herself, taking only a moment to reposition her silk-like gown over previously exposed skin. _"Thas Feyera?" _she asked.

"What?" he said, holding his head down in disgust. He squinted his eyes tightly until the pressure began to hurt the fair skin of his forehead.

"_It's all going to be okay. I promise. We're together again. Nothing can sever our hearts." _

However, the discussion of Gardevoir anatomy (and in particular their crystalline hearts) failed to intrigue the young Pokemon researcher. Though he had spent countless years of education to earn a doctorate in bioinformatics at the prestigious Pokemon University, all of those memories –all of that education – was not worth what he now felt in his heavy heart. "Sana…" But, just as the gravity had begun to swell and weigh his spirit with the awful remorse of inadequacy, he felt a delicate finger dancing along the ridge of his heart. Almost mesmerically, her warm palm graced the edge of his very existence, all with a delicate precision.

"_I promise I'll protect you." _Relinquishing he grasp on his chest, she impishly rubbed her smooth hands along her crystalline heart. _"Your heart is my heart now." _

Feyera shook his head. "Sanaria, not even you can protect me from my past…I've created an assortment of unnatural beings. It will only be a matter of time before my research catches up to me. Do you really think you can protect me from the unknown horrors of genesplicing?"

"_Maybe not,"_ she said telepathically, nodding at the heart crystal embedded in the researcher's sternum. Then she grinned playfully. _"But I can protect us, thas Feyera; that's what I promised to do, isn't it?"_

"Why do you always have an answer to everything?"

"_Call it a hunch,"_ she giggled,_ "besides, human behavior is oh so predictable." _

"Ah…" Stretching his lanky arms he replied, "I know… that's why I'm afraid. 'Us' implies me. Us implies this second heart, a new part of me. Psyonics, all their blessings and curses are here to stay; I'm not sure how human I am at this point."

Cutting him off with a tight pout, she insisted, _"The heart is hard to translate. It has a language of its own. It speaks in patters and sighs. It listens to prayers and proclamations. …At least, that's what I've felt." _

Anxiously, he grappled with his thoughts, muttering, "If I could only fix this… for both of us."

"_You already have,"_ she said adamantly. A glint of light from the rising dawn caused the grey sea beyond the window to jump to life with fantastic color.

"Have I?" he wondered airily.

"_Mm." _ Nodding, she brushed her wavy bangs back. _"Even the smallest of gestures, resonate in a dynamic language."_

"It's a language I haven't learned," admitted the young man. "No offense, but most of the archaic words you use aren't recognizable to me."

"_Well, with all of your education, learning shouldn't be a problem!"_ she nudged his wilted shoulder with one of her petite elbows.

"True, but I'll never belong on either side. Human or Pokemon. The rest of my life is going to be a learning experience."

"_Well, I want to be there with you." _

"You do?" he asked the slender Gardevoir beside him.

"_Of course! " _Closing her cherry-wood eyes behind her heavily lashed lids, she nodded. _"Besides, I enjoy learning about the world almost as much as you do. With you…through you."_

"Sana…?" He pawed her jawline with a quivering hand. Touching her pale skin seemed to steady every tremor in his body. The warmth of her tiny breaths became alarmingly soothing. Everything felt as if it had finally found a place. "Are you sure you want to learn from someone like me?" he asked her. "After how much I've hurt you in the past?"

"_I do. The past stays in the past." _Feeling her face flush with pinkish warmth, she whimsically added, _"Think of this as my turn to 'do research'. After all, human gestures can be so terribly obscure and confusing! You cry when you're sad and when you're happy?!"_

"Hmm." His narrow lips hid a smile. He knew how easy it was for a Gardevoir to deconstruct details and discern what a person was feeling. In fact, he had been on both sides of that avenue. Regardless, Sanaria was being sincere; her keen interest in humanity's various quirks and mannerisms happened to surpass that of some humans! "Right. We're in this together," he answered affirmatively.

"_I don't see how there'd be any other way, thas Feyera,"_ she said with a roll of her shadowed eyes.

"Sanaria?" he asked moving close to her. "You know, I've been wondering: what does 'thas' mean anyway?"

"_Oh… that means –"_ she shook her head, wildly waving her bangs in the process. _"Ah… it's just a silly saying. Heh… Heh…" _

Smirking jokingly, Feyera pressured her with a nudge to the shoulder. "Aw c'mon, tell me!"

"_Since when were you so interested in Gardevoir culture?"_

"Since –" he paused briefly thinking back to the grisly research he had been a part of in the name of theoretical biology "– since I've had a desire to work with Pokemon. *Sniff* As a researcher." Sana appeared to be unperturbed by the swelling puffiness beneath his emerald eyes. "Before I committed my crime. Before I tore you away –"

"_Shh. Shh." _She quickly hushed him with a small finger from her raised hand. _"– Is this really how a human feels? I find it so strangely similar to my own emotional inflection."_

"I–" he stared to say, but his glance quickly caught hold of her reclined body. Though as much of a Gardevoir as any (a member of species _**Angelus Curator**_ according to his previously published scientific dissertation), he could not help but notice her effeminate – and indeed, fragilely human – qualities. Her silken garment's shoulder straps, laden slightly off kilter, wrapped her thin body in a delicate position. With a subtle pat, he adjusted the thin shoulder strap, hearing her purr faintly from the contact. Transferring sensation straight through and unimpeded, her clothing naturally amplified potential sensory intake: having an exponential effect on the species' emotion-based Psychic power. A shiny, rubicund crystal – emerging from a thinly cut slit in her clothing – divided her two small breasts.

"_And…this…right now, this feeling, this selfish attraction; is this how a human girl feels?"_ she asked pointedly.

"I wouldn't know," he answered truthfully. "What are you getting at by asking that?"

Looking out the nearby window – which was heavily fogged with the dew of the Southern Sea of the Sevii Islands – Sana straightened her already slender posture and asked, _"I… I wonder sometimes. It's just – every once in a while – I don't only see your heart like I did before. …I see you. I see what you are."_

"Well, that's nice," he said frankly. "– hate to disappoint you, but I'm nothing but a freak now thanks to my doctorate research. There's"

Immediately she knew what he was frustrated about. She didn't need to be a Gardevoir to see his eyes dart downwards to his chest, searing with a sharp, metallic crystal.

"_No,"_ the Gardevoir paused for but a moment,_ "I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I see what you stand for. That's who you are." _

"Well now, Sana, –" Feyera tightened the wide straps on a traveler's style leather vest "– '_WHO I AM' _ seems to be the Million Pokédollar Question now, doesn't it?"

She couldn't help but smile as he fumbled with the jacket's suede dyed straps. Rather loose and oversized, it barely reached below his Smith and Salven's Pokéball belt holster. A recent Pokemon trainer, originally on a quest to aid Professor Oak in his field research, Feyera was hardly an Ace Trainer by any definition of the word! His journey had already been long, and as a result, he wore a seemingly ceaselessly tired expression. _"You don't have to be Doctor Christian Feyera the scientist. You're a whole new you. A 'thas' – erm – 'Mister' Feyera. Can't you at least entertain the idea that there isn't anything you need to completely understand?" _

"A fair deal of academics suggest otherwise, Sana. Life is full of mysteries, and I – as a subject – happen to be a very big one!"

"_Happen to be what?"_ Sana asked with a snigger._ "An academic or a mystery?"_

"Both actually," Feyera said. "I suppose it's the mystery part that bothers me though. I want to solve it. Don't you?"

"_Life's a mystery with many parts. *sigh* If you will it so that your life is about what you feel; your passions eventually become part of you." _Sanaria glanced down at Feyera's scarred chest._ "…Even grow to define your identity." _

"You really… uh … you really think so?" What had begun as a snide remark wound up expressing a great deal of interest. Feyera said half endearingly; his posture mellowing at the very mention of identity. Such a concept had been the very goal of his entire Pokemon journey!

"_Mmhmm." _She waved her willowy arms in the air cheerfully. _"All that's left is to spread your wings and fly!"_

"Humph. You're certainly one to talk," he said gruffly.

"_Heh–he!" _Laughing, she rolled onto her side with a sequel of chuckles. _"You're still embarrassed about me coming to your rescue? I promise I wasn't trying to fool you by tracing Levitate! And, *sigh* even if I was… what you told me when I rescued you was really sweet." _

"Listen," he said as sweat continued beading on his forehead and cheeks "– please keep what I said between you and me."

"_Oh, is that so!"_ she exclaimed. With a wink she said, _"If that's the case, then your little 'angel' isn't going to try to embarrass you…"_ She lifted up her shoulders in a theatrical shrug. _"…too much!"_

"I–I didn't know you could trace abilities; all we ever talked about was my synchronize ability. I mean, c'mon Sana, how could I have known you'd Trace Weezing's ability and hover to my aid?" Feyera said. He didn't need to run a Battle Sim. to figure out Gardevoir's psychokinetic powers; he'd gotten plenty experience of their battling prowess firsthand. "You know, I may be an intermediate trainer, but my five Kanto Badges have nothing on that strategy you managed to pull off back on the island."

She grinned wildly at the praise he was giving her. _"Heh! Is that so, thas Feyera?"_

"Gah," he jolted as she danced her delicate fingers on his ebony collar. "Can't you simplify the praise without making me feel so damn uncomfortable?" he asked as she pulled away slightly. "Sheesh."

"– _Didn't you promise to quit trying to justify yourself?"_ asked Sana._ "…I appreciate what you said to me. I never felt something so strong before. And from a human. …Then again, you're not really fully a human anymore." _

"Hang on, Sana, what I mean is –!"

"–_I know what you mean, thas Feyera; I can feel exactly what you mean, because I can feel __exactly__ what you feel."_ Sanaria pinned her hands lightly down on top of his shoulders. _"Our hearts are bound together! Remember?"_

Silently, he lowered his fair-skinned palm to the center of his chest. And the moment he felt contact with the slim crystal embedded in his sternum, the Gardevoir at his side instinctively shut her eyes in an irresistible gasp of stirring contemplation. "Huh? You really can feel all of that? All of the time?"

"_Y–yeah,"_ she answered with a furtive peer out from between her dangling bangs. _"Everything, thas Feyera. That's why we need to stay together, no matter what."_

"You know what?" he asked twirling her fine hair around his index finger. "For the first time, I'm actually okay with that."

"_But that doesn't mean it's going to be easy, thas Feyera."_

"I know. That's why we're doing this together."

She grinned happily and pecked his cheek. _"…Close together!"_

"Say, Sanaria, you've gotten good at changing the subject. Must be spending too much time with me."

"_Mm–"_

He pulled away from her "–but you haven't answered my question yet! What do you mean by the prefixes 'veh' and 'thas'?"

"_It's…well, it's…a saying…"_ she said shyly stumbling over how to explain the terminology to a human being. _"…just a little saying. Mmm. Nothing really…"_

Such cautious reservation was a side he had not yet been exposed to. "A saying huh?" he said gliding his hand through her warm, silken hair. "Well, what's it mean?"

"_It's hard to explain, veh Feyera; Gardevoir have a culture that's very complex – the heart itself is very difficult to translate, it sometimes has a language of its own."_

"– Whoa! Hold on, wait up; what's that all about?" Feyera pouted. "Suddenly I'm 'veh Feyera' again? What's the deal with that, Sana?"

"_N–no,"_ she shook her head. _ "Please don't take offense. It's extremely personal to call you 'thas' anything. Especially __my__ thas."_

"YOUR thas?" he asked, his pitch rising in perked earnest. "And here I was thinking I was the possessive Pokemon Trainer."

"_First of all, I don't approve of humans enslaving Pokemon to do their bidding!"_ she said pouting and crossing her thin arms in protest.

"Well Sana, didn't you just categorize me as 'not really being fully human anymore'?" Feyera smoothly replied. The constant shaking of the floor made him sit his back against the cedar bedframe. "Also, quit trying to change the subject! That's my job!"

"_Alright! Alright!" _she said as if tickled by his words. _ "Give it a rest silly! It's only a little verse!"_

Feyera nodded. "Okay, why don't you translate it for me?"

"_You can't translate it, silly. No words or language can fully express feelings." _

Disagreeing with her, he quickly retorted with a scoff, "Oh yes, suuure. Which is exactly why humans speak with words and not telepathy."

"_Have you ever been at a total lost for words? Speechless with emotion?"_ she interjected.

"Hmm." He nodded carefully. "You have a point. I didn't have much of a choice when the psyonics overtook me in the past."

"_When all you're taught cannot compare anything to the feeling; nothing could describe it in any audible language. It would be like begging for a language that never existed before."_

"Pah, even infants can do that!" Feyera derided. "Besides, language is incredibly useful."

"_Language is just a low branch on the tree of understanding. Humans seem to like it a lot."_

"Don't diminish humanity just because you don't fully understand us. You seem keen on learning how to speak. I'm surprised your vocal cords can even work after eons of evolutionary dependence on telepathy."

"_Actually, I'm really interested in learning your language. I like annunciating your more passionate expressions a lot." _ She used her hand to make an obscene gesture, chuckling aloud at Feyera's surprised reaction. And his reaction was by all means warranted. Obviously, Sanaria wasn't a human. On the other hand, she had the desire to pretend to be one. More interestingly, Sanaria's growing knowledge of Feyera's female fancies – such as Lorelei Carese – through his dreams, allowed certain expectations to become a pseudo-reality. Granted a soft murmur or coo hardly had the potential to be misinterpreted, but there were many other subtle human acts to help express pleasure. Although Sanaria's vocal cords were underdeveloped due to Gardevoir relying mostly on telepathy or psychokinetic-empathy in order to communicate, she had been practicing by mimicking him occasionally. It was actually surprisingly easy for her to do. She picked it up fast by using humming, laughter, or other audible sounds to supplement the speech. Each time she spoke made the bizarre nature of their mutually dependent relationship even more confusing. Why she did this was a mystery to the young man, but he did not dwell long upon it.

"Okay, well here's the deal: if you want me to teach you the language of voice, then you must provide a favor to me in return!"

"_Anything,"_ she said happily nestled against his side.

"Let's start with what 'thas' means. Looks like we still have a long way ahead of us." He looked over at the control panel. The Southern Sea of Kanto had been so calm that he had almost entirely forgotten that they were on Lorelei's yacht, traveling to Johto in order to meet up with a rustic apricorn-crafter named Kurt. The ARMOS-guided computer monitor above the steep cabin windows provided a dim light. The sea beyond was pitch black. Thankfully, the pair had made it halfway to their destination without encountering any other ships. It could have been the residue from Cipher's Phaeton missile, but oddly enough the yacht was functioning perfectly fine. Perhaps Admin Ein's Solaris Shield generated by Magneton had protected the Prima from the electromagnetic pulse. Either way, the two unlikely travel companions would face a myriad of challenges in their journey to stop Cipher from taking over the world with brutally powerful Shadow Pokemon. How were they making them? How were they controlling them? These were paramount questions in young Feyera's mind, but he kept his heart and mind focused on the final mission Fredrick had given him. On one hand, it was the only thing that should have mattered to Feyera. And yet, having Pokemon by his side seemed to change everything about how he once perceived the world.

* * *

To be continued in Arc 3's Chapter 2, "Mysterious Union of the Ancients"

Please review and (if you have time) check out some of the other stories in this series; your honest feedback is always appreciated, if not essential, for the ongoing development of this story. Cheers!


	2. Mysterious Union of Ancients

**Mysterious Union of Ancients**

Meanwhile, on Citadark Isle, somewhere well beyond the Orre coastline's horizon…

"Admin Eldes, situation critical!" echoed a computer terminal. "Mercurium has ceased to spread through the host's circulatory system. XD–001's heart has stopped beating. Specimen is entering cardiac arrest."

"Damn!" cursed the tall man with long hair as fiery and red as his temper. Flexing his hand into a tight fist from under the cover of his baggy sleeves, he ordered in a stern voice, "Give me a readout on X.D.'s status!"

"Specimen XD–001… report: critical mass reached, progenitor injection sites are no longer yielding logarithmic increases of Mercurium in the specimen's bloodstream."

Eldes nervously rubbed his forehead. He peered over the railing, down at the vat containing the embryotic creature, stories below the main command booth. "Have we reached equilibrium?"

"Partially. The shadow aura has failed to maintain stability and yet the artificial metabolic hold from the nanotech continues to yield residual energy, animating the corpse of Lugia. However, XD–001's response to stimuli is significantly delayed."

"Incredible…" whispered the man. From his vantage-point he could see the legendary beast twitch – something seemingly impossible seeing as Eldes had witnessed the creature's demise firsthand. "Computer, contact my brother immediately, he needs to see these figures. Even if XD–001 is little more than a Parasect–Zombie, these animated results far exceed our expectations for preliminary tests on the Lazarus Pokemon! Admin Ein was correct about the buried Mercurium being the key to life after death."

"Sending message… *beep!* error! Admin Ardos is returning from Hoenn; however his com link has been self-severed."

"Ardos! Irresponsible as usual! Can't the fool even keep a damn radio turned on?!"

A violent blast, followed by a massive tremor nearly knocked Eldes over. "…! What the hell was that, computer?!" Eldes asked the terminal in a panic as the entire base shook from a distant explosion. "Status report!"

"Calculating… calculating… mapping offshore cipher base – *ding!* anomaly detected! Warning, fatal base breach in sector one!"

"WHAT?!" shouted Eldes. "They're coming in through our front door?! Get me an image on screen!"

"Negative. Exterior security cameras have been compromised by the explosion's blast."

"This is the worst possible timing for an insurrection!" Eldes took one last look at the strangely floating Lugia below. "I take it they made it inside?!"

"Affirmative, admin. Internal base sensors are not responding. Last reported message from the mainframe: bulkhead number two has been breached."

"Dammit to hell, they're coming in fast! Whoever it is, they've caught us completely off-guard," Eldes fumed. "Activate the central alarm; send out our peons to neutralize the situation immediately!"

"Negative, Admin Eldes. The mainframe has been hacked by the intruders. System has lost control of the central terminal's core processor. All digital messages have been restricted to this single local platform."

"That's impossible! Only the Verichs know the base's tri-layer security codes!" Eldes shouted, quickly turning his attention to the green screen displaying a map of the Cipher compound. "Computer, get me some kind of visual on screen! *Huff!* I WON'T FAIL MY FATHER IN HIS ABSENCE!"

"Affirmative, Admin. Sonar ping initiated. Scanning for motion… scanning for– *ding!* short wave radar has two figures rapidly traveling down the central corridor towards our position."

"I can see that," he said with a hot temper, glaring up at the round radar screen with piercing eyes. Steaming, Eldes quickly darted to the room's makeshift armory, a bulky metal cabinet containing various RAIL–class weapons Cipher had illegally received from Silph Co. "Well, if it's a fight they want, then it's a fight they'll get!" *CLICK, CLICK!*

"Full breach of our base is imminent. All defense systems have been remotely disabled."

"_But how…?" _Eldes' palms were sweating as he clumsily hoisted up two ion guns from their respective shelves. One of the weapons was significantly larger than the other, but what the other one lacked in strength it made up in ammunition. Typically, RAIL guns were used to kill unruly Pokemon with a focused ion burst. However, extremely powerful Pokemon could deflect the energy, and right now, Eldes was completely unsure of what type of adversary was heading his way. What if his experimenting with Shadow Pokemon was discovered? Surely, the international police would kill him first, and ask questions later. He clutched the barrel of the large gun, aiming it at the steel door – the only way in, and the only way out of this command room.

However, as Eldes prepared to face off against whatever force had the audacity to invade Cipher's base, a strange ringing in his ears made him scream in pain. He dropped both his weapons, trying to cover his ears and protect himself from the otherworldly screeching. "ARGH! …What's going on?!"

"System compromised," answered the terminal over the deafening high pitch entering the room. "System compro– *rrrrrzzzz* …fatal error."

What Eldes saw next nearly broke his mind. The solid steel door, claimed to be able to stop a rampaging Tyranitar, suddenly warped in on itself. The metal buckled from the seam of the closed door, bending into a sphere of black matter which had penetrated past the last defense. Scrambling, Eldes tried to pick up his RAIL weapon, but as soon as he palmed the cold ion rifle's grip, it grew immensely heated. Screaming out from the terrible burning sensation, Eldes managed to fire a single shot in the direction of the door. *KA–WHOOM!* went then RAIL gun, flooding the dim command center with light. The piercing bolt of energy seared through the air, blasting a massive hole in the nearby wall. Unable to deal with the weapon's tremendous level of expelled heat, Eldes dropped the ion gun to the ground. He had missed.

"Brother, my brother, our brother," came an unnatural voice from beyond the hole.

"Ardos?!" exclaimed a surprised Eldes. "ARDOS, IS THAT YOU?!"

"Correct," answered the voice of another man. However, Ardos' voice contained an eerie resonating tone that seemed to pierce directly into his brother's mind. Eldes could not explain it, as it was something completely different from what Eldes had remembered from growing up with him.

"Show yourself, brother!" Eldes ordered, coughing from expelled smoke. "It's not like you to be this reckless!"

"Of course, _my dear brother_." As the dust began to settle, the metal door was clearly no more – crumpled up like a piece of paper into a tiny orb.

"Huh?! What are you doing?" Eldes asked in alarm, seeing the silhouettes of two figures. The admin assumed they had been the intruders, but he had a strong feeling that something about the situation was clearly wrong. "How did you do that?!"

"_Calm." _As if reading his fears, a strange amalgamation of speech and telepathy answered, _"Your brother and I, we are here to assist you in ways you cannot even begin to comprehend."_

"What?! Ardos, I thought you said you would be out of my hair for the next month. Why did you come back? ARDOS! Why would you try to destroy the base our father built…?"

With little more than a blank nod, Ardos' gaunt expression faintly acknowledged the mention of their father, the Cipher Grandmaster. "Father…" mouthed his thin lips. "I…"

"_Excellent questions,"_ a separate voice answered, _"and accompanied by a clear emotion of familial love."_ It was clearly a female's voice, but there was no sound echo, the words seemed to be inserted directly into Eldes' head. _"This is truly delightful to behold!"_ echoed her enthusiastic thoughts.

"Who are you?!" Eldes asked. "What have you done to my brother?!"

"_Tsk!" _Obscured from settling dust, Eldes could only see her figure raise an arm, wagging one of her fingers in deceptively benign chastisement. _"Unfortunately for you, we have some questions which take precedent."_

Gasping, Eldes recognized his brother standing where the metal door had once been. Ardos was a tall man, much like Eldes. He wore a stoic expression which had contrasted Eldes' feverish passion since the two were young boys. But this new expression worn by his brother… there was something terribly off about it. Never before had Ardos been silent to his brother's questions, and now the only speaker was a frail young woman at his side. He briefly wondered whether the two were romantically involved, but quickly dismissed the radical thought. Ardos had his heart broken too recently, the laboratory researcher he had fallen for completely broke his heart, and Ardos had grown to bitterly resent love of any sort. "What have you done to him?"

Leaning against Ardos, she was close to his imposing height. Her light hair, lean body, and tattered clothing made her more mysterious than anything he had ever seen before. A prominent red crystal jutted out from her bust. The white button-up shirt she wore was torn, revealing stains of dried, crusted blood on both her breasts. _"You say you are dear Ardos' brother, and yet you still dabble in man's technology, as if expecting to find some result which has not already been witnessed by those who walk this planet."_

"'Those who walk this planet'?" Eldes repeated in hallow fear. "You're not human…no human speaks like that… Tell me: what are you?"

"_We are union of souls …Celesta. Orchestrated together in the symphony of death, we are the instrumentality of Legion's Occult."_

Eldes stammered, "L–legion?"

"_As a mere mortal you are blind to your own multiplicity, seeing one life as separate from another." _ Lifting her lanky arm off Ardos' shoulder, she began to approach, crossing her legs as she walked in devilish ambition._ "Oh how I yearn to open your eyes to the truth I have witnessed through death and rebirth. There is no divide, and through joining our spirits together, we become stronger with each addition." _ Smiling, she beckoned Ardos. _"Your brother learned this the hard way. He brought me back into this realm, and in return I granted him his sincerest wish – he is united to my spirits."_

"No!" Eldes' knuckles turned white as he clenched his hand into a tight fist. "Let my brother go! This is madness!"

"_It is a folly to address your master with such a tone,"_ Celesta chastised, her pace quickening towards him. _"Tell me, mortal; is death not your true master?"_

"No!" Eldes responded from his gut. "This cannot be!"

"_Silence! You know nothing of death's soul–binding embrace!" _The woman quickly raised her slender fingers under his chin, lifting Eldes' head up, and exposing his neck to her sharpened nails. Her eyes had lost any human color they once had, as they were two glistening orbs of red, with dilated black pupils at their centers. The roots of her hair had begun to grow a pale green, contrasting the original shade of the rest of her locks. She made a strange humming noise that tickled his vocal cords, but he dared not move from her paralyzing grip.

"Ardos…" whispered Eldes as his voice began to involuntarily shake. Her dainty nails caressed his adam's apple. "A–Ardos, please; h–help me!"

"_Tsk tsk."_ Celesta shook her head. _"There's nowhere left to hide, mortal creature; I know your heinous crimes. Look around! Through creating Shadow Pokemon at any cost, you ultimately sought to command death. But death makes for a poor servant. Such foolishness was to be expected from Ardos the Younger of the Verich twins, but I did not expect this level of irrationality from Eldes the Elder."_

"Then it sounds like you don't know Admin Eldes well enough!" shouted a voice from behind her. "HIYA!"

Turning to face the unexpected sound, Celesta released Eldes from her grip, causing him to collapse to the ground with a *thump!*. While Eldes had hoped the mysterious opponent was his brother, he was surprised to see a Cipher Peon charging into the room. Weakly, he tried to warn the man, "N–no, she's too strong! Save yourself!"

"Go, Mightyena!" shouted the nameless peon. A flash of light illuminated the dim room, and a deep rumbling came from below.

"_HAH! A challenger approaches us! One who uses the evil of the Pokéball to subdue his Pokemon thrall! HAHAHA!" _she laughed in an eerie pitch._ "Mark my words; we'll soon see who is slave and who is master!" _

"Mightyena, use Crunch!" ordered the nameless grunt. "A woman doesn't stand a chance against a Pokemon attack!"

With demonic swiftness, the hyena pounced in Celesta's direction. "MIIIIIGHT! AWOOOH!" it howled trying to masticate her in any way possible.

"_HAHA! A Dark Type?!" _Celesta scolded, her voice echoing with voices from countless souls she had laid to waste within her core. _"Foes such as yourself are ill suited to combat a Faery Matriarch!"_

"A matriarch?"

"_Psychic dimensional rift!"_ Celesta ordered her body. Effortlessly, she rose high into the air, expending a massive amount of psychic energy to render herself weightless and out of Mightyena's reach.

"Mightyena, use Assurance!"

"_Pah, I do not fear the Dark Type!" _ Celesta twirled daringly through the air. Orbs of pink light filled her outstretched hands. She leaned back, raising her tattered crystal shard to the sky; the uneven piece of anatomy glowed with such incredible heat that it began to shimmer and glow. _"Perish, impure soul! Dazzling Gleam!" _The barrage of light-filled spheres smashed into Mightyena, knocking the creature belly up. The creature whimpered, as the creature was bathed in Celesta's emanating brilliance.

"Mightyena! NO!"

"_And now, the crescendo of our faery of power is complete! MOON BLAST!" _ Soaring above Mightyena orbs of brilliant light circled around Celesta like rapidly orbiting moons. With a pounding psychic sonic boom, the revolving spheres launched from their controlled paths, their target now clear. In an instant, countless satellites of Faery energy spheres exploded against Mightyena's shaggy fur all at once, silencing it.

"AH! Mightyena!" screamed the peon. He tried to recall Mightyena to its Pokéball, but being deceased, the frozen creature did not respond to the Pokéball's drawing laser. "NO!" Realizing his Pokemon was soundly defeated, he turned around to run.

"_You're only delaying the inevitable embrace of death. HAARRGHH…! LET YOUR FEAR FUEL MY PASSIONS!" _Celesta gasped, raising her effeminate arms to the sky. _"Delusional is your lost blood, for the soul persists – waiting, searching, breathing in a new air in a world of chaotic life! ARGHHH! AHHHHHH!"_

Rapidly revolving rings shot out from the woman's crystal core. They twirled and mixed like rivers of blood, reaching out in every direction. Her eyes had focused on her target, and the beams of energy ripped free of their orbits. Trying to turn around, the energy wave cascaded into the peon's right arm. The magical pulse instantly disintegrated his limb into nothing but a cloud of red air. The last expression he wore was one of mixed fear and despair as the rest of his body melted into a cloud of swirling rouge dust. However, Celesta was not through yet, her eyes glowed with the lust of true power, the ability to bend the laws of life and death was in her hands alone. She smiled as the swirling dust gathered into a whirlpool streaming toward her heart. With a loud cry of ecstasy, she released the swirling remnants upon the limp Mightyena. The creatures paws twitched and quivered. The dead Pokemon opened its once menacing eyes and revealed an ominously blank expression.

"_Look at you now," _said Celesta as she gracefully lowered herself back to the earth._ "A soulless body is nothing but an empty shell – such abnormalities are ripe for soul manipulation."_

Eldes could not believe his eyes. In total awe, he mouthed a faint, "Holy shit…!" limping towards the computer terminal as Celesta approached her new pet. If he could only release the latch on XD–0001's vat! Eldes, panicking, approached the main computer, out of breath. However, his heroic motions were soon frozen by a supernatural force tugging on the back of his neck with the incredible strength of a Machamp. _"Where do you think you're going?" _With a burst of telekinesis, Eldes was thrown up into the air, landing on his back. Celesta now stood next to Ardos and an animated Mightyena. _"Don't you desire to learn the secrets of Shadow Pokemon, dear brother Eldes?"_

Eldes strained to lift his head off the cold tile floor. "You created the abnormality which you speak of!"

She smiled. _ "It is an anomaly which obeys. A Shadow Pokemon has lost its heart. The soul is indefinitely imprisoned in my core, and the remaining spirit is guided by hatred and vengeance."_

"What are you saying?"

"_Consider the technology of ancients, feeble human,"_ the woman let out an exaggerated sigh._ "The Apricorns you humans developed years ago. And now these petty, spherical orbs – Pokéballs – they exist because humanity sought control over nature. Now that I have been awoken, nature's chaotic beauty will control once more! As Fae, we are nature, and all life answers to nature's mighty call!"_

"Wait!" Eldes pleaded.

"_Hmm?" _Placing her hand on her hip and petting the expressionless Mightyena at her side, she asked, _"What is it, mortal?"_

"You speak of generating Shadow Pokemon with your powers?" Eldes asked, thinking about the process by which the Cipher Team had attempted to resurrect an obedient, powerful Pokemon.

"_Indeed, I can speak from experience – the process of sealing a soul is irreversible, and yields a powerful thrall cursed with a permanent seal upon its heart." _She tilted her head towards the howling beast before her. _"Together, we shall use this power to inherit this realm from the greedy claws of humanity. You have defiled the world with your inventions, and now a price must be paid."_

"You can't though! There are more than a million people on this planet; you'll never overtake them all, even with your witchcraft!"

"_It is not witchcraft," _she laughed whimsically. _ "It is merely the manipulation of life-spirit, not unlike how the ancient Mercurium injected into your test subjects alters their genetic code. When one soul ends, another must begin, as this is the law of nature. Mankind has forgotten this precious law. Man's hubris, his flailing desire to save himself from death led to the development of the very technology that will herald his demise."_

"No…that's impossible."

"_Maybe for a mortal; maybe for one who has not yet been hugged by death's icy embrace. Such an experience is as you humans say, 'eye-opening'. For you know relatively little about the realm you exist in, and even less about the undead realms of the Fae. Death has revealed truth to us: once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. Your brother supports us, Eldes. Join us, and you will be spared from the fate that awaits the spawn of man for enslaving the Fae's kin!"_

"S–someone will stop you! You won't get away with this!" Eldes stammered, trying to make up for his unfortunate position. "I don't know what planet you think you're from, but here, Pokemon are under human dominion!"

"_Heh." _Celesta raised a taunting brow. Her invisible psychic tendrils had already begun to seep into Eldes' ears. He could not see their thick, pulsating branches, but the pain-ridden expression on his face confirmed that she was infiltrating his mind. _"Are you suggesting that you will not join our greater cause, dear brother Eldes?"_

"ROT IN HELL!" Eldes belted in agony. "You are not my brother, demon-spawn!"

"_Maybe I'm not him, but can't you see? Your brother…he is a part of us. Ardos has joined something greater than his conscious self could have ever fathomed."_ Like a determined military general, Celesta advanced with commanding prose._ "His dreams will be realized; those selfish goals to control Shadow Pokemon will be realized through my power, and conducted through the will of the Fae!"_

"NO! ARGHH! STOP!" Eldes screamed, turning his head from side to side, asphyxiating from the psychic web thrusting into his mind. "MERCY!"

"_Mercy? We do not know the meaning of the word, dear brother."_


	3. Enduring Ties of Soul and Spirit

**Enduring Ties of Soul and Spirit**

* * *

A gust of frosty, crisp air blew through the young man's auburn hair as he opened the cabin's squeaky door. With a quick step, he walked beyond the threshold and onto the sea vessel's deck. Dew from the morning fog covered the narrow floorboards, making the exterior of the Prima slippery and slick.

There was a soft murmur from behind him, however he paid it little mind. With a determined stride, he walked towards the bow of the ship. With a stern glare, he gazed off into the distance, and his emerald eyes seemed to shimmer at the first sight of land. _"We finally made it,"_ he thought to himself silently. It was a sublimely peaceful scene; the only sounds coming from the steady drone of the ship's engine and the breaking of waves against the recently refurbished hull. "Unbelievable–" he said aloud to the Johto peninsula appearing to rise high above the horizon, having to catch his breath as a tremendous array of color splashed over the canvas of his this beautiful dawn. The lofty peaks of Union Cave were like low-laying clouds of indigo, looming ominously over the sleepy village of Azalea. To his marvel, the distant sunrise to the east illuminated the Southern Sea's deep blue waters – as if to promise the upcoming day's warm vibrancy.

With a smile, he reached into his coat-pocket and clutched a silver timepiece. Running his palm against the device's smooth surface, latch clicked open with a flick of his finger. Despite the vital importance of the adventuring tool, the piece was utterly useless, as the hands had been frozen in place at quarter past three by Cipher's doomsday device. _"What could Cipher possibly hope to gain in a world without our technology?"_ he wondered to himself.

As if to answer his fervent thoughts, a small voice echoed from behind him, "A world without those terrifying capture devices doesn't sound half bad."

They young man quickly turned around to face the direction of the voice – his frail form continuously buffeted by the wind. "Sana, you don't understand…"

"I understand you completely now, thas Feyera," she said with her piercing crimson eyes. As wind blew her mint hair about in the furious oncoming wind, she lackadaisically emphasized, "It was my choice."

"At their core, all humans are tool-wielding animals. Without the ARMOS computer system guiding this ship safely, we would have been in for a rough ride." He shrugged. Wearing a smirk, he noted, "But just look at who I'm talking to."

"Human hands are unwieldy," she noted. "Especially when controlling them over a great distance!"

"Heh." He smiled thinking back to the day he met her. "I suppose there's something to be said for your psychic abilities."

"Of course," she nodded her head, concealing a slight blush under the curtains of her hair. "But I can't just mind control anyone I please. No one can; not even you. There has to be an emotional connection fueling the process."

"I knew that," he replied quickly, trying his best to act knowledgeable. "I'm distinguished scholar after all!"

"I'd say you learn better from experience however, hehe." She wobbled back and forth playfully.

"Maybe." Gravitating towards the edge of the ship, he sighed, staring down at the rough waves breaking against the Prima's patched hull. "I suppose you have a fair point. Psyonics need to be further researched, and I'm the right man for the job."

"Hah! You mean this isn't a pleasure cruise?" she joked.

"Hmm. Believe me, I wish it was, but we have a long road ahead of us. There will be time to relax at the end of our journey, I promise."

"Hmm," she said nodding her head back and forth, "if you say so."

"I mean it," he reassured her apparent doubt. "Once we get to Fredrick's contact – Kurt – we'll be able to rest easier."

"You haven't been sleeping much. It shows in your eyes."

"You're right," he replied softly, "I'm a wanted man."

Her eyes widened "It's the dreams isn't it?" she asked fretfully.

"It's as if something, or someone is reaching out – calling out to me, Sana." He looked at her heart. "Like what you did right before we met."

"Calling out to your heart?" she asked with a tone of seriousness.

He nodded softly, emerald eyes affixed. "Is that something I should be worried about? I'm never me in the dreams."

"*Sigh*– some of us believe that reoccurring visions are really messages – conveyed from other souls in our species. My guess is you're very perceptive now to Gardevoir."

"Whatever their origins; it cannot be helped," he said with a shake of his head. "I'm worried, Sana. Worried for the world."

The gravity of his heartfelt words resonated with her, and she replied rather shakily, "I never thought you'd be such a humanist –" she said and he tried to smile. "–the trainer I met for the first time weeks ago on this ship would have only had been concerned for himself. Everything was always about you; saving yourself from that which I treasure most."

"You're right, heh, in some ways I've changed. Thing is, you met me when I was still searching for answers, but not in the right places. Thanks to you, some of those answers were found," he said as she blinked in surprise. "Others will forever be an enigma, and I don't intend on compelling mysteries. I've realized that it's up to me to live this life in the here and now."

"So what does that mean?" she asked, suppressing excitement.

"That means warning Kurt about Cipher's plans for world domination. It's what Fredrick would have wanted me to do… in fact; it's the last thing he wanted."

She closed her eyes. "He wanted what was best for you, thas Feyera."

"I know. *Sniff* At one point, I would have questioned Fredrick's means, but now I think I finally understand him."

"How so?" she asked with focused intrigue.

"Fredrick's hands were completely tied by things beyond his control. His daughter, who experimented with me at Evercrest was overtaken by the infectious Mercurium…" Feyera spoke gravely "And without knowing it; I almost met the same fate."

"So the armlet around your wrist…" she looked at his pale wrist – white as snow, "was only delaying the process of the heart overtaking you?"

"Basically. That's how the cellular fusion was stalled once I awoke the dormant powers of your mate." Feyera sighed. "It was a crude solution, but periodic Serenithium injections seemed to act like the opposite of the Mercurium already inside me. That is, until Ein's Phaeton device outright disabled the mechanism from working. After that, I almost completely vanished from existence. I would have been reborn as a monster with no memory; subservient to Cipher's will."

"Is that when you met Seph?" she asked.

"'Met' might not be the best word," Feyera said with a laugh as weak as his frame. "But yes, without the Serenithium, my psyonics triggered a chain reaction. It was only a matter of time before my human body gave in."

"But Seph didn't let you die," she hummed faintly, "he saved you… twice."

"I'll admit, I thought little of the first time Sephiteos saved my life. And to be honest, I wasn't even sure if saving me was his intention. But the second time… it was different, I didn't feel as if my body was being hijacked and overtaken by the lust for power. The whole experience felt entirely different… we actually spoke."

Her face reddened at the reminder of the last words Sephiteos had shared with her. Although it was incredibly painful for her to let him go, deep down she knew that his final decision was for the best. "It looks like the changes to your body stopped."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better or worse?" he asked pouting. "The Mercurium wound up producing extremely hostile genetic overwrites."

"Heh, and you were so afraid of it, weren't you?" she teased. "I think I've only seen bugs worry you more!"

"Gah! Of course I was afraid!" he said angrily crossing his arms. "For goodness sake Sana, the ancient technology had my body being overtaken by genetic code absorbed by Mercurium on the shard, not your mate."

"What is the difference though? Seph's heart was unique to him and only him. No human could possibly codify who he was!" Sana shrugged. "You must understand, no matter what, this is his heart… and it's all I have left."

"Hmm… All I have left is Seph's heart." Feyera looked at his chest. "He saved me through it, and for that, I'm grateful."

"Then…?" Sana placed her palm on the shard's edge, filling him with a sensation of feverish warmth. "Is this you?"

Feyera shook his head, trying his best to ignore the dazzling sparkling light. "No. I wouldn't say that it's only me. Although his presence is no more a dormant internal force, by saving my memories from being totally erased, Seph's noble sacrifice will continue to live on with my every breath."

"He wanted you alive more than he wanted both of your memories to be dead," Sanaria said solemnly. "His heart is a gift, you know? It's not a menacing curse like you always used to complain about."

"Right." He held her close, their hearts connecting. "And I'll use this gift to protect the bond Seph forged." She smiled as he patted her back. "I'll have you know, that means protecting the world we live in. It's up to us to stop Cipher's madness."

"Thas Feyera, we're together now…" she said lightheartedly. "There's nothing that can stand between us."

"Mmm." he agreed, feeling a surge of emotional energy course through her heart and into his own. She winced slightly as he intuitively reciprocated with a smile. "Thankfully." Taking one last look at the horizon, he quietly led her back toward the protective shelter of the Prima's cabin.

* * *

"Destination imminent, prepare for manual override!" read out the computer as the Prima approached the Johto shoreline. The yacht's powerful engine turbines had begun to wane in their energy output as the rocky beach line came fully into sight. "ARMOS Guidance disengaged. Manual control override in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, mark."

Feyera grasped the vessel's platinum wheel, his knuckles grew white as he tried to take hold of the yacht. "Gah!" he grunted as the strong tide pulled the ship to its side. "Son of a…!"

"Thas Feyera! Don't crash the boat like I did!" squeaked a voice beside him.

"Sana, I'm trying my best, but this shoreline isn't exactly welcoming," he said squinting, desperate to find a place he could dock. "Doesn't Azalea have a port?"

"I don't know! I don't keep track of all your human settlements!"

"Pssh," Feyera steadied the ship's orientation with a quick turn of the wheel. "It's not looking good; I can't see anything but the sun reflecting off the shoreline!"

"OH! Slow down!" Sana suggested clutching him from behind. "Please, I'm going to be sick!"

"Huh – uh –" Feyera slammed down on the engine's throttle, but it did little good. The boat continued its wavering approach, riding the shimmering waves as they broke against the shoreline. "Uh-oh."

"Now you've done it!" she hollered as the boat rammed into a sandbar. The hull shot skyward, knocking Feyera and Sana onto their backs and rolling. The refurbished metal hull made a horrible screeching noise as rock jetties tore into the Prima.

"OOF!" Feyera exclaimed, feeling an alarming sensation of déjà vu.

Sana struggled to her knees. "Well, looks like a perfect landing, captain." His glare managed to catch her as she rolled her eyes. "Now what? It sounds like the water is coming in!"

Feyera had to think quickly. "Can you swim?" he asked.

"SWIM?!" Sana exclaimed. "What type of uncivilized Pokemon do you take me for? My clothes will get all wet!"

He shook his head. "Swallow your pride, Sana; we don't want to drown!" Quickly, he snatched his belongings and knapsack from the cabin. The water was already up to his knees!

"Thas Feyera, I don't want to get wet! My clothes, they'll be ruined!"

"I guess you should have thought about that before all the water adventures we've been on!" Feyera scolded, his tension rising with the water level.

"Argh! I hate it when you're right!" Sana said, pulling her skirt above the water. "Wait! What about a life boat?"

"There's no time!" Feyera shouted, as he kicked the cabin door wide open, "C'mon Sana! It's sink or swim!"

She reluctantly followed him to the vessel's edge. "Okay, ready?" he said, estimating the distance to shore. Even with the atrophy his body had faced, it appeared as if he could make it. "One, …!"

"WAIT!" she screamed, appalled that he leapt before reaching three. The two splashed into the temperate waters, and Feyera immediately began kicking to shore, tugging Sanaria's limp figure along.

It was hardly a journey, after a few strokes the water was shallow enough to stand in. Out of breath, Feyera stood up, and wadded to the beach.

"Gasp! Gasp!"

"Something the matter Sana?" Feyera turned to ask.

With a loud splash, she kicked water straight at him. "YES! Why didn't we ride Des?"

"Heh," Feyera smiled, amused by how the water had inflated her garments. "I suppose we could have done that, now that you mention it."

"WHAT?" she bellowed. "You mean, you didn't even think this plan through before pulling me into the water with you?!"

"I guess not," he said feeling a bit guilty. "It was all happening so quickly."

"Why…!?" she moaned. "Look, my entire gown is ruined."

"Relax, it'll dry, right?" Feyera said with a nervous smile.

"No! The way Gardevoir fabric is woven, it's not meant to be submerged in water."

"Oh…" Feyera gave her a friendly look. "Aw c'mon, it's not terrible; the look suits you."

"Have you gone blind?! I look like a puffed up Qwilfish!"

"Haha!" Feyera snickered. "At least we're okay though…"

"–We are absolutely not okay until you find me new clothes!"

"New…clothes?" Feyera said with a laugh of disbelief "Don't be silly, we have a world to save! We can go shopping another time. Trust me, backwards folks living out here in the boondocks have no sense of style."

"How could you be oblivious enough to think human garments would work!?"

"Umm… I mean, they work for me just fine."

"I am not you, thas Feyera," Sana said with a sigh, "I channel my energy through my movements in battle, unlike your brutish use of psychic power."

"Hey! I'm not a brute."

"Sure you're not," she rolled her eyes. "You're worse! How could you forget about Des?"

"I… uhh… Sana, you're always complaining about how Pokéballs are enslavement tools."

"So? What does that have to do with anything?" she asked pointedly.

Feyera shrugged. "I guess I forgot that I had the power of my Pokemon to rely upon."

"Oh brother!" she exclaimed. "You shouldn't feel guilty about what's already done! Brucie, Des, and July, they're your family now. And a family needs to take care of each other."

Feyera felt a knot in his throat. "Uh, yeah. Family… right."

She looked him dead in the eyes, "Listen, I know it might be hard not having a family of your own species, but at least you have others that rely and care about you. Never forget that."

"You know that's going to be difficult. How am I supposed to beat Cipher without putting my friends into harm's way? The mission we're on is full of danger."

"Hmm…" Sana hummed, "but it's not a danger to face on your own. You'd be a hypocrite to say you don't rely on your companions."

Feyera looked down at his heart. "You're right. I need the strength of my companions."

"That's more like it," Sana said happily. "C'mon, let's get off this beach. I think there's sand between my toes."

"Hmph. Good idea," Feyera said with a quick nod. Oddly, not a soul was in sight. Feyera had expected to see some anglers by the crash site. Yet the sleepy little town of Azalea seemed to be deserted, as they walked west down the empty main street.

"Thas Feyera, why are all the people inside?" Sana asked with worry in her tone.

"Hmm. How do you know they're indoors?" he asked. "Is it because of the boards of wood inside the windows?"

"Very observant," she muttered sarcastically. "But no, it isn't the barricaded windows. It's the people behind them."

"One would presume these hillbillies don't take kindly to strangers," Feyera said casually.

"I–I can feel them." She turned her head to a small brick home. "They're scared of something, thas Feyera."

"Scared?" he asked. "Of us?"

"I don't know the emotion's trigger, but the feeling of fright seems to be the prevailing wind of this little town."

"Fascinating."

"What's so fascinating about that? Aren't you worried?"

"A little. Still, I can't believe you're sensitive enough to pick up those types of things; to me, this place just reminds me of Lavender Town all over again."

"Lavender Town," she said hollowly, "that's where you encountered Haunter, the ghost of desecration."

"Yes. Team Rocket was responsible for unearthing Pokemon in the Tower. I believe they were attempting to procure Mercurium from the bodies that were laid to rest."

"How grotesque! Why would dead bodies have Mercurium?" Sana asked.

Feyera shook his head. "I don't know."

"At least you admit it," Sana said, still squeezing out water from her gown.

"Heh," Feyera chuckled softly, "would you rather me lie?"

"No. I like the honesty, but not the situation we're in."

"Indeed," Feyera said passing by a few residential houses adorned with wind charms on their balconies and porches. "It's like Lavender Town all over again. It even feels the same as Lavender…"

Sana stopped dead in her tracks.

"Hmm? Sana?" Feyera asked, wondering why she halted. "Something wrong?"

With very concerned eyes, she asked him slowly, "Thas Feyera, what did you just say?"

"Uhh… I said that it feels like Lavender Town, you know, missing people and all."

"Your instincts should not be questioned; if this is the same thing you felt in Lavender, we are undoubtedly in a great deal of danger."

"Ah, nonsense!" Feyera shook his head. "Besides, I'm trained to question my instincts as a scientist. Just because a situation feels similar doesn't mean that it's the same thing."

"I would be more cautious about dismissing your instincts." She looked down at a pile of lime bricks, most were neatly stacked, but a few had been knocked over as if the construction project had been hastily abandoned. "Something about this land isn't right."

"Okay, but I doubt Haunter or Team Rocket will be here. I mean, we're out in the sticks of Johto's countryside. This place is about as rural as it gets. The only noteworthy landmark nearby is the Union Cave. Heh, heh, what day of the week is it anyway? Team Rocket might be looking for a Lapras if it's Friday, haha!"

Frowning at his joke, she insisted, "Still, if you had a feeling inside…" She began to walk again, this time much closer to him. "Just promise to be careful."

"Of course," Feyera said, "so long as you stop spooking me like that."

"Oh…" she squeezed his arm "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm not scared!" Feyera belted defensively. "Let's just get moving and find Kurt, he has to be somewhere around here!"

However, unbeknownst to the young man, a frail figure had been watching him through a magnified scope, tracking his every move from atop one of the boarded-up houses. "Hmm," growled the man steadily holding the long-barreled rifle, "Looks like a Kanto absconder is here to cause more trouble for Azalea. *Sigh* hasn't Team Rocket been enough for our town to worry about?!"

* * *

**To be continued…**


End file.
